As is usual for December, a host of predictions have been forthcoming about what will be the new trends and innovations for the coming year.
As far as the beauty and bodycare sector is concerned, gender-neutral beauty is going to grow in popularity in 2017, according to the Innovation Group’s Future 100 report. Lucie Greene, worldwide director of the group and author of the report, says that as male make-up artists are breaking the social taboo about men wearing make-up, it is leading to beauty branding and packaging becoming less overtly feminine. She adds that repositioning make-up as a creative tool rather than a ‘feminine’ product could also boost sales across the board.
Technology is also set to revolutionize the beauty industry, with a wave of innovative connected products being launched that deliver the much sought after beauty ‘personalization’. An example is Wired Beauty which launched a connected face mask called Mapo that links with the user’s phone, analyzes the wearer’s skin and suggests the best beauty regime. Greene says that companies are just beginning to scratch the surface in this area.
With consumers demanding more choice and higher standards when it comes to nude offerings, the report also believes that brands will finally begin to offer make-up lines with a more diverse range of skin tones as they currently fail to reflect the population. “Although many brands are now beginning to incorporate ethnic shades as part of their ‘nude’ lines, it’s not enough to pay lip service,” says Greene.
She also flags up three hot beauty ingredients for next year: avocado oil; turmeric – which is now being recommended for facemasks and creams to combat acne and skin flare-ups; and by-products. The latter area includes ingredients such as red maple tree bark for anti-ageing; sorghum bran to soothe skin; and fermented coconut oil as a preservative. “All of the above are trends that started first in food and drink,” explains Greene. “Avocado toast, turmeric as a food ingredient, coconut oil and foods made from by-products have all caught on in recent years. Food and drink innovation remains a powerful predictor of the beauty trends coming down the pipeline.”
And as 2016 has seen the emergence of pollution-fighting skincare products, this will continue and grow into next year, says the report, along with further developments in anti-ageing solutions.
